up James Blake needed only an hour to beat the in-form Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters on Wednesday. Also advancing were defending champion Novak Djokovic after two tiebreakers, and No. 8-seeded Andy Murray, but No. 5 David Ferrer, a quarterfinalist the previous two years, was upset by Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador. Blake didn't have much trouble with Simon, who was coming off a breakthrough win on hard courts. The 23-year-old Frenchman won in Indianapolis, his first ATP title in the United States, was a semifinalist last week in Toronto, and at a career-best No. 14 ranking. But he couldn't keep up with the seventh-seeded Blake, who ran off four straight points to break Simon's serve and clinch the first set. Blake then held serve throughout a 26-minute second set. World No. 3 Djokovic was pushed by rising Italian Simone Bolelli to win 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) in just under two hours. Reassured that the pain in his right knee was nothing serious, Murray relaxed and beat Sam Querrey of the United States 7-6 (3), 6-1, showing better movement on the court as the match went along. Murray had a scan on Monday on the knee, which bothers him when he plays a lot of matches in a short time. Lapentti downed Ferrer 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3 for his first win over a top-10 player on hardcourt in five years. He also reached the Cincinnati third round for the first time since 1999. Also, Ernests Gulbis of Latvia defeated Arnaud Clement of France 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5), and Tommy Haas of Germany moved on when Gael Monfils of France retired with illness while trailing 5-1. Safina, Schnyder win Russian seeds Anna Chakvetadze, Dinara Safina and Nadia Petrova advanced to the third round in straight sets at the Rogers Cup on Wednesday, along with 15-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito. No. 6-seeded Chakvetadze downed the last American, Jill Craybas, 6-2, 7-5, No. 7 Safina easily moved past Russian compatriot Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 6-4, and Petrova accounted for Thai Olympian Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 6-2. Also, No. 9 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland overcame Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-1, 7-5, winning five straight games to rally from 2-5 in the second set, and No. 11 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-2, 6-2. No. 10 Marion Bartoli of France received a walkover when Alisa Kleybanova of Russia withdrew with a lower back injury. Bartoli will play Chakvetadze next, and Petrova will meet Schnyder in the last 16. Two seeds were knocked out. No. 15 Flavia Pennetta, runner-up to Safina at Los Angeles last week, was beaten by qualifier Larcher de Brito of Portugal 6-3, 0-6, 6-3. It is the second time this year the teen has reached the third round of a Tier I event, after Key Biscayne in March. Local player Stephanie Dubois upset No. 13 Maria Kirilenko of Russia 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (4), hitting a drop shot volley to force Kirilenko to hit into the net on match point, to rousing cheers from the Uniprix Stadium crowd. Dushevina stuns Szavay Vera Dushevina edged second-seeded Agnes Szavay 6-4, 7-6 (6) Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Northern Light Open. Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and third-seeded Katarina Srebotnik also won in straight sets. The 10th-ranked Radwanska, who won the tournament at Olympic Stadium last year, routed Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine 6-1, 6-1, and Srebotnik beat qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-4. Sixth-seeded Sania Mirza of India ousted Emilie Loit of France 6-3, 6
